Report · Money and Finance

Most say Washington can slow price spikes but not reverse them

Reading

Most U.S. adults (60%) think the federal government can slow a spike in prices but cannot bring them back down to where they were before, according to a March 2026 Verasight survey.

Roughly a quarter (27%) believe Washington can get prices back to pre-spike levels, while 13% say the federal government has basically no ability to lower prices.

Topline

single choice

Topline distribution

Most say Washington can slow price spikes but not reverse them.

Which comes closest to your view about the federal government's (meaning, the president and/or U.S. Congress) ability to address spikes in prices:

  • The federal government has the ability to slow down the spike in prices, but it does not have the ability to get prices back down to where they were before the spike 60.0%
  • The federal government has the ability to get prices back down to where they were before the spike 26.8%
  • The federal government has basically no ability to lower prices 13.3%

2026 · base n 1,000 · +/- 3.5%

Verasight Client Omnibus Survey #2026-044

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Methodology

Full methodology
Mode
Verasight panel recruited via random address-based sampling, random person-to-person text messaging, and dynamic online targeting
Field dates
2026-03-06 → 2026-03-16
Base (unweighted)
1,000
Margin of error
+/- 3.5%
Module
Module 2: Economics, Work, & Policy

Source

Citation

Verasight Client Omnibus Survey #2026-044, fielded March 6-16, 2026, N=1,000 US adults age 18+, +/- 3.5%.

https://reports.verasight.io/r/omnibus-2026-044#q-2-12

Verasight survey methodology

How Verasight conducts surveys.

This page describes the Verasight general survey contract, separate from how the Data Library packages it. When a wave report is published, its field dates, sample sizes, and module breakdown are listed in that report.

Mode
Verasight panel recruited via random address-based sampling, random person-to-person text messaging, and dynamic online targeting.
Population
US adults age 18+.
Sample design
Surveys are run as omnibus or single-topic waves. Omnibus waves are split into modules with their own respondent set, typically around one thousand respondents per module.
Field window
Each wave specifies its own field dates. Most omnibus waves field across roughly two weeks.
Weighting
Per-module weighting to CPS targets including age, race and ethnicity, sex, income, education, region, and metropolitan status.
Partisanship benchmark
Pew Research Center's NPORS benchmarking surveys, three-year running average.
Vote benchmark
2024 presidential vote population benchmarks.
Margin of error
Typically about plus or minus 3.4 to 3.6 percent per module at standard module sizes. Question-level MoE is recomputed when a base shrinks materially below the module baseline.
Reporting
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Transparency
Verasight is a member of the American Association for Public Opinion Research Transparency Initiative.

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